YouTube Trials AI-Generated Video Summaries To Help You Choose To Play Or Skip

Ever wondered if a video on YouTube was worth watching? Soon, notes accompanying the endless options could be a helpful hint, as YouTube is experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) video summaries to provide a “quick overview” of clips on its platform.

The site stresses that these text boxes aren’t meant to replace the video descriptions written by the creators themselves. Rather, they’re a feature that will allow viewers “to read a quick summary about a video and decide whether it’s the right fit.”

For now, as the trial goes on, users may see the new tool appear on watch and search pages for a limited number of English-language videos. According to Engadget, these summaries will likely pop up on mobile searches for how-to tutorials, shopping guides, and vlogs worldwide.

As TechCrunch points out, several AI-generated video summarizers are available in the market, though feedback from creators has been mixed. While most seem to work for short-form clips, others—as reviewed by a Reddit user—weren’t able to write up a concise description of longer videos.

Fingers crossed, YouTube’s own AI summary feature will yield better results.

[via Engadget and TechCrunch, cover image via Dimarik16 | Dreamstime.com]